Two words more, however, remain to be said. The first of these is, that the number of pairs of antonyms we have in our vocabulary signifies how many different pairs of antagonistic motor tendencies or action-patterns we could, were we fully aroused, overtly manifest. Since thought is either a rehearsal for, or a rumination upon, action, it is essentially a process which employs the same structures of the body as those which are activated in our buying and selling, our giving and taking, our toil and our play. The second word is, that if it be due strictly to our muscular architecture that antonyms occur in human speech, we can now safely affirm that any philosophy or religion which construes the universe as divided between the warring forces of light and darkness, or as everywhere illustrating the bi-polar principles of love and hate, is likewise based upon the law of the reciprocal innervation of antagonistic muscles. Such philosophies are, indeed, profound, since they attempt to inscribe on the firmament the drama of man’s limitations. With this by way of introduction, we are now prepared to examine the various terms by which we are wont to convey our ideas of ethical value, in order to see just what the words “good,” “bad,” “right,” “wrong,” and the like really _mean_. And while the difficulties of such a task are admittedly great, yet the presumption is entirely in favor of the methods of mechanistic psychology to give a strictly scientific interpretation to the subject matter of ethics. FOOTNOTES: [2] “The Intellectual Significance of the Grasping Reflex,” Jour. of Phil., Vol. XVIII, No. 23, pp. 617-628. [3] See “Journal of Physiology” (1909), 38, 113-133; ibid. (1914), 47, 460-474; also Bayliss, W. M., “Principles of General Physiology,” 383-4; Starling, E. H., “Principles of Human Physiology,” 205-6. [4] Mark carefully, that according to this, so-called “voluntary” movement (or will) is simply movement produced by one member of any pair of antagonistic muscles. This physical equipment is of paramount importance to the function of willing. Note also, that “free will” always did mean the choice of two alternatives! [5] See Bayliss, op. cit., pp. 494-8; Starling, op. cit., pp. 335-6. [6] This is especially observable in all free-hand or free-arm movements, as, for example, when one tries to throw missiles in quick succession at a target. In spite of one’s own verbal suggestions, both speed and accuracy vary with every shot. This peculiar property of muscle should henceforth factor into our definitions of _chance_ and _luck_. CHAPTER III THE BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICATION OF THE WORD “GOOD”